Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative

1. Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative Leadership Team Session Tuesday, October 8, 2013

2. Good News from Mass 2020 Over the past two years, this group of ELT schools continued to make proficiency gains in ELA, math and science at a greater rate than the state average. 2013 science scores (CPI and proficiency) were particularly strong. ELT is growing like wildfire! More than 20 new ELT schools opened in MA this year through district initiatives, charter expansion, and a new funding source for ELT (21st Century-ELT). More schools than ever are choosing to participate in this network: welcome to Edwards, MLK, and Ferryway! Eight years in, the state ELT Initiative is strong.

3. Urgent Messages from Mass 2020 Five of your schools were low growth in math in 2013. This is comparable to the state average for low-income schools that DON’T have the gift of ELT. Some ELT schools saw their progress slow or slip last year, with drops in proficiency and/or growth. They are facing challenges maintaining momentum. Sustainability continues to be a challenge in many ELT schools, even those with the state ELT grant

4. Bold Next Steps from Mass 2020 This year’s technical assistance will focus on continuous improvement and progress monitoring, and be differentiated based on school needs Mass 2020, in partnership with ESE, is in its second year of a multistate initiative called the TIME Collaborative, which has a strong focus on sustainability. Emerging lessons learned and promising practices will be shared with MA ELT schools and districts.

5. SY2013-14 Technical Assistance Overview

6. Today’s Objectives • Share back-to-school Good News, Urgent Messages, and Bold Next Steps • Learn about the revised ELT Expectations for Implementation and make a plan for how you can use them to monitor and accelerate progress • Balance time for team reflection and planning, and learning from your peers at other ELT schools

7. Role Assignments • To ensure that this time is focused and productive, assign roles to team members for today’s activities and next steps planning. • Use colored dots to designate roles: Scribe = In charge of team note taking Focuser = keeps team on task Timekeeper = keeps track of activity time

8. Agenda

9. Back-to-SchoolGood News & Urgent Messages What artifacts did you bring to share your school’s Good News and Urgent Messages?

10. Travelers & Talkers: Instructions Assign 1-2 Talkers to present about your team’s Good News and Urgent Messages. 1. Talkers The rest of your team will split into two groups of Travelers. Each group will visit one school team assigned to them on p. 1 of the packet. 2. Travelers Talkers will present their Good News and Urgent Messages using the guiding questions on the next slide; Travelers will listen and ask questions (15-20 min) 3. Teams will come back together and discuss what they learned(15 min) 4.

11. Travelers & Talkers: Instructions Talkers Travelers Use the note-taker on p. 2 in your packet to document what you learn from each team. You will share out what you learned from each team you visited with your team members. Use the following questions to guide your presentation: • What is your good news as it relates to your performance agreement? What actions contributed to this success? • What are your urgent messages as they relate to your performance agreement? What actions might you take to address the areas of need? • How have you, or will you communicate your good news/urgent messages to all stakeholders? p.2

12. Agenda

13. Revised 2013 ELT Expectations for Implementation I. ELT Design is Driven by Focused School-wide Priorities VIII. District Leadership Supports ELT II. Data is Used to Drive Continuous Improvement and Strengthen Instruction III. Additional Time for Academics is Used for Core Instruction and Differentiated Support IV. Additional Time for Enrichment Is Used to Deepen Student Engagement in Learning V. Additional Time for Teacher Collaboration is Used to Strengthen Instruction and Improve Achievement VI. Additional Time is Used to Enhance School Culture VII. School Leadership is Focused and Collaborative

14. What is an “Indicator”? • a sign that shows the condition or existence of something • a pointer or light that shows the state or condition of something • a device that shows a measurement

15. What are the “Essentials” for each Expectation? 58 Indicators can be overwhelming! Your team is going to create a 1-page “cheat sheet” that summarizes the E & I, that you can share back at school. 1. Look at Expectation #1. Let’s identify together the essential actions and practices to meet this Expectation, drawing from the Indicators. 2. Assign Expectations 2- 8 to members of your team. Each team member reviews no more than two Expectations and its Indicators to identify the “essentials”. Use the note-taker on p. 3 in the packet to summarize. (10 min) 3. Share out among your team the “essentials” for all eight expectations (15 min) p. 3

16. Monitoring Progresswith Expectations & Indicators How do we know when we are making progress with these Indicators? What do we need to observe, hear, touch? What resources, tools and/or practices do we have or will we need to create to help us gather this information?

17. For the next 30 minutes, each table will review all of the indicators for one Expectation. You’ll be working with 1-2 other schools for this activity, not just your team.Using the note taker we pass out for your assigned Expectation, record how you can monitor progress for its indicators, discussing: • What kinds of evidence would you want to see? • How would you gather this evidence? • What artifacts might exist? Take careful note of your best ideas; we’ll do some sharing on this.

18. Tools to Help Monitor Progress Mass 2020’s observation guides are aligned to the E&I and can be used to monitoring progress in identified improvement areas Five guides: • Core Instruction – p.4-7 • Differentiated Support – p.8-9 • Enrichment – p.10-12 • Enrichment Version 2 – p.13-14 • Teacher Collaboration – p.15-17 Starting on p. 4 Can be used as-is, modified, or integrated into existing observation tools your school is already using

19. Review the observation guides and discuss: How could we use these tools to help monitor progress around the E&I? How might we modify/adapt them to fit our needs and context?

20. Agenda

21. Based on what you’ve learned about the Expectations & Indicators and know about your school, your task this afternoon is to identify 2-4 indicatorsto guide continuous improvement between now and February, which you will act on and monitor 8 Expectations 58 Indicators! YOUR SCHOOL

22. Steps 1: Self-Assessment Select 1-2 Expectations to hone in on • Each team member writes down which 1-2 Expectations they think your school should hone in on • Share and discuss. Are you on the same page? • In coming to consensus, consider: Your Performance Agreement Goals: what are you accountable for? Your Professional Learning Plan: what have you already planned and scheduled? Your Urgent Messages: what are they telling you about what you need to do differently? Once you’ve come to consensus, complete a self-assessment of that Expectation(s) using the rubric on p.17, and determine which Indicators you want to focus on. We recommend 2-4.

23. Step 2: Action Planning • Work with your team to complete the action planner: • How will you monitor progress in your improvement areas? • Who is responsible? • By when? Blank template: p. 18 Let’s look at the completed sample on p. 19 for guidance.

24. Agenda

25. Next Steps Planning: Pulling it all Together To ensure that this time is focused and productive, utilize team member roles: Scribe = Blue Focuser = Red Timekeeper = Yellow Use your Professional Learning Plan to schedule next steps, taking into account what is already planned p. 20 and on NCR paper

26. Jot down an “aha!” moment that happened for you today Think of a “shout-out”to recognize one of your team members or person from another school team In Closing…

27. Please fill out and return your evaluations, and visit www.timeandlearning.org/ maeltimplementation for today’s materials!